FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR | Clements Library, Lecture notes of French

Download FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR | Clements Library and more Lecture notes French in PDF only on Docsity! NO. 21 THE CLE MENTS LI BRARY ASSOC IATES SPRING-SUMMER 2004 FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR Sea power was critical to victory' in America. B.1/ /758 the Royal Navy dominated the Atlanti c and could launch amphibious operations against the fort ress port of Lauisbourg on Cape Brehm Island. A French squadron was trapped ill the harbor. This 1771 pr int, from a scene by Richard Paton. celebrates a British raid on the night ofluly 26 that captu red Bienfaisant (64 Ijll ll S) lind burned Prudent (74). War II did for Am ericans in the late I950s or early ' 60s . The cen tra l pub lic event of Washington 's life to date, as for his gene ration, had been the destruc­ tio n of New France. the stunning vic to­ ry that had made Britain the grea test imperi al power of the day. Yet victory had somehow also cre ­ ated the con ditions that had plunged the British Empire into civil war, just a little mor e than 12 years after the Peace of Paris. Today, 250 years afte r the Seven Years' War began in Ameri ca. we have almost forgot­ ten the eve nts that loomed so large for Washin gton in 1776. Chi efamong the rea ­ sons for this co llec tive amnesia is the success of the American Revolution itself. "It is," Francis Parkman observed in the intro ­ ducti on to Montcalm and ~V<) lfe. "the nature of great events to obsc ure the great events that came before them." Th e Seven Years ' War had, as a result. been "half lost to sigh t beh ind the storm -clo ud of the War of Independence ." Yet it is important for us today to understand the significance of that con flict and the role that Washington- a young man hungry for glory and eager to extend the authority of his king into the interi or of North Am erica- played in it, if only because there is no clearer reminder in A merican history of the iron ies of imperial victory and the un intended co nsequences of war. Nor is there any be tter place in the United States to inve stigate both he and Stephen had survived: the Battle of Fort Necess ity, Ju ly 3, 1754, and the destruction of General Edward Braddock 's army at the Battle of the Monongahel a on July 9, 1755. Whi le it may puzzle us that Washington paused at the very moment of the Rep ublic 's birt h to make "grate­ ful remem bra nce" of the twin di sasters that began his military caree r, it made perfect sense for him to do so. For Washington, as for many oth er middle­ aged Am eri can s in 1776, the Seven Years ' War- what they called "the late French War" and later wo uld name the French and Indian War-carried the same kind of significa nce that World In other words. as Washington faced his greates t cris is ye t as co mm ander-in­ chief of the Continental Army. it was less the futu re of the United States than his personal history that was on his mind. The specific experie nces were a pair of spectacular defeats that eorge Washington composed one of the odder letters in his voluminou s co rrespondence on Jul y 20, 1776, as he and his men prepared to defend New York aga inst the invasion that Ge nera l \Villiam Howe was abo ut to unleash. Hundreds of Royal Navy ships rode at anchor in the harbo r, and thousands of British and Hessian troops were encamped on Staten Island when the co mmande r-in­ chief wrote the following words to his old comrade­ in-arms . Adam Stephen: "I did not let the Anniversary of the 3d or 9th of this Instj an]t [month] pass of[ f] without a grateful rem em­ brance of the escape we had at the Meadows and on the Ban ks of the Monon gahela. [T jhe same Provedence that protected us upon those occasion s will , I hope, co ntinue his Mercies, and make us happy Instruments in resto ring Peace & liberty to this once favour' d, but now distressed Country: ' (Emm et Coll ection, The New York Publi c Library ) What makes this passage all the more curious is that on July 9th, the day he comme morated his "escape ... on the Banks of the Monongahela ," Washington had also ordered his officers to read the newly-arrived Declaration of Independence at the head of each regiment. Yet nowhere in his letter did he mention the Declarat ion. - ----i}f-- - - Drawings by mili tary and naval officers were the basis fo r the plates q{ Sccnographia Americana, publish ed ill / 768. MallY combin e wartime events with dramatic scenery. This is Cap Rouge on the St. Lawrence River, nine miles above Quebec. drawn by Captain Hervey Smyth. vival had depended upon it. These new, indis­ criminate attitudes, soon to be reinforced by the bitter experience of the War of Independence on the northern and western frontiers, helped create the foundations of an American cultural and political identity separate from the older British one. even as they promoted and justi­ fied the annihilation of whole Indian peoples in the name of freedom. civi lization, and peace. In that sense, the story of the Seven Years' War is much more than a phase in the early military career of George w ashington and more than a prelude to the American Revolution with which we are familiar- the struggle for liberty against oppression, rights against power, independence against subjuga­ tion. It is also a darker story, one in which the very realization of imperial ambitions produces unpredictable results: in which victory breeds disaster for the victor; in which the evidently benign growth of a population of peaceable farmers leads to the wholesale destruction of native peoples. Those are as much a part of American history as the brighter. more familiar, more comfortable story of rights defended and liberty maintained. The fact that both stories meet in the person of George Washington is worth thinking about as we seek to understand the causes. character. and consequences of a war that no one wanted but which transformed their world forever. - Fred Anderson Prof essor ofHistory University of Colorado, Boulder Years' War undermined, and ultimately destroyed, the ability of native peoples to resist the expansion of Anglo-American settlement. The war 's violence and brutality, moreover, engendered attitudes and patterns of behavior on the frontier that encouraged whites to hate Indians as they had never been able to do in the pre-war world. In that earlier time of com­ petition between empires. colonists had been required to make distinctions between friendly and hostile groups, if only because their sur- European milita ryforces encountered Native Americans as both allie s und enemies. A cartouche itlustration. from Thomas Hutchins 's map of the Ohio COUIlt1)~ depicts CJ /764 council between Colonel Henry Bouquet and local Indians. Additional details include a rare image of a Scottish soldier (left) and a military encampm ent. the historical experience. and even the look. of the Seven Years' War than the Clements Library. Benjamin West' s 'T he Death of General Wolfe" -his third rendition of the scene. completed in I776--hangs over the elegant Main Room in solemn glory. It is only the most visible treasure in an unmatched collection of books , maps. images, and manu­ scripts relating to the war in America. Engravings. like a colored mezzotint from 1771 depicting the capture of the French line-of-battle ship Hienfaisant at the siege of Louisbourg in July 1758, capture the drama of military events. Other prints-notably the twenty-eight plates of the Sceno graphia Americana: Or, a Collection of Views in North America and the West Ind ies . . . From Drawings taken on the Spot, by Several Officers of the British Navy and Army­ show contemporary views of cities and forts, seascapes and landscapes, and communicate the fascination of British subjects with the exotic locales in which the war was fought. If these images hint at the exultation of the British in the greatest military victory of their history, thc Gage Papers and other manuscripts. including the diaries of common soldiers, speak with equal power of the grind­ ing daily realities of the war experie nce and the terrors of battle. What remains largely unseen in the images of the war, although not in the grittier world depicted in the manuscripts and maps, are those aspects of the conflict and its mean­ ing that modern Americans might most prof­ itably contemplate on the 250th anniversary of its beginning. In bringing to an end the French empire in North America, the Seven PAGE 2 THE Q1/ARTO FORTIFIED PLACES The complex geometry of siege operations can he seen in a plan of the French conquest of Oswego in 1756. This German engraving. compiled by Lieutenant Therbu. was published in 1792. he North American conflict that came to be known to Americans as the French and Indian War was played out across the northeastern mainland in the years between 1754 and 1763. This con­ frontat ion between France and Britain. their respective American colonists, and their Native American allies began in the disputed wilderness of the upper Ohio Valley and concluded a decade later with a struggle between British military forces and the Indians of the same region. Despite the fact that both Britain and France committed large numbers of trained, regular soldiers to the fighting- and victory or defeat ulti­ mately hinged on the success of those troops-it was the horrors of battle in the dark and untamed forests that cap­ tured popular fancy then as it has ever since. The very name of the conflic t suggests warfare in the wilderness. Later historicaL literary, and dramatic treatments of the conflict, such as James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans and its many film adapta­ tions, reinforce that image to this day. It is more than a little ironic that events of Cooper's quintessential tale of the American wilderness revolve around a very European military activity-the siege of Fort William Henry in August 1757. The fort had been designed according to European principles and was besieged and defended using methods that would have been as appropriate in Flanders, Portugal, or Spain as on the wooded shores of Lake George. Fort William Henry was, in the military parlance of the mid-eighteenth century, a "place," defined in technical dictionaries simply as "a fortified town, a fortress." Fortress cities dominated the military landscape of Europe, and places in America served much the same purpose as their more sophisticated counterparts across the Atlantic. They guarded important passes, held territory, provided secure depots for supplies. and offered bases and safe havens for military forces. Fortified places were particularly important in the interior of North America, which lacked large popula- lions, roads.aowns, and the infra struc­ ture of eighteenth-century Europe. Natura l waterways provided the only efficient means of transportation. Rough roads or tracks along rivers and through the mountains were a poor second choice. Critical routes required protection, and the needs of defense grew more complicated after the out­ break of fighting in 1754. At the com­ mencement of the war, fortifications ...\Tr,'\QUf..S dc.~ J,;Wt.f or. were most likely to be stockades constructed of wooden pickets that were perfectly defensible against Native American or colonial raiders who lacked cannon or the means to drag them through the wilderness. By the end of the conflict, the larger fortification s were strongly constructed of earth, reinforc ed by logs and even stone or brick, to better resist artillery and the methods of sicgecraft that could be brought against them by trained engmeers. The French post of Niagara, which guarded the portage around Niagara Falls and barred the British from the upper Great Lakes, illustrates this metamorphosis. In 1754 the fortifi­ cations compri sed a rickety stockade enclosing a stone house and about an acre of ground, The threat of a British attack from Oswego in 1755 motivated the French to expand the area of Fort Niagara tenfold and transform its defenses with earthen ramparts and ditches. The strength of the new fortifi ­ cations forced the British to undertake a 19-day siege in 1759 . This expenditure of the besiegers' time, a critical com­ modity in a harshly seasonal climate, fulfilled another important role of the fortified place-to delay an enemy. Other strategic French positions were similarly strengthened, while the British constructed massive fortifications to hold territory at places like Fort Pitt, Crown Point , and Oswego. THE Q1JARTO PAGE 5 A,, "r, r / '.:. -...,-~- .;-'-.~ : "<\ }" .po- ' ; :..:. -~;- - ~ ' .~ "" ~~ ' . ~- ~ '- '"- - -1.. 011 July 8, / 758. British troops hurled themselves against prepared French defenses outside Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga) without conduct­ ing a siege. Their furile attempt cost nearly 2,000 casualties. French office r Michel Charlier de Lotbiniire recorded the Cl'e1l1. This map was originally among the papers of General Jeffery Amherst. Campaigns of the French and Indian War became largely place­ oriented as British armies attempted to fight their way into Canada along the few practic able routes. while the French labored to forestall their efforts by neutralizing forward bases. Although open-field encounters between armies did occur. as at Quebec in 1759 and 1760 and near Niagara in 1759. these were fight s that came about in response to efforts to take fort ified places. Even the best known of all French and Indian War battles. the defeat of General Edward Braddock's army in the forests along the Monon gahela in 1755. was initiated by the French to preempt a Briti sh attack on nearby Fort Duque sne. Milit ary actions of the French and Indian War seem to be divided between the raids and ambu shes associated with wilderness combat and large-scale attempts to seize places. The opportu­ nity to maneuver and defea t armies in the field. like the cam paigns of the American Revoluti on, War of 1812, Mexican War, and Civil War, did not often occur. The central role of fortified places in the annual campaigns of the French and Indian War can be illustrated by the events of 1755. the first year when significant numbers of European regu lar troops were deployed by both sides. The British planned four widely­ separated blows against New France: from Virginia against Fort Duquesne in the Ohio country; from Oswego against Niagara ; from Albany against Cro wn Point on Lake Cham plain; and from Nova Scoti a against Fort Beausejour in what is today New Brunswick. Success would open the way to further advances. The attempt on Fort Duquesne ended in the destruction of Braddock 's army. The Niagara expedition was abandoned for logistical reasons. French and Indian forces attacked the fortified camp of Sir William Johnson 's provincial army at Lake George and. though repulsed. halted the British adva nce on Crown Point. Only the attempt on Fort Beausejour climaxed in a successful two-week siege against a small but well-fortified position. Subseq uent campaigns centered around sieges or attacks on fortified places at Oswego (1756). Fort William Henry (1757). Louisbourg, Ticonderoga. Fort Frontenac. Fort Duquesne (1758). Niagara. Quebec, Ticonderoga ( 1759 ). Quebec. Fort Levis, and Isle aux Noix (1760). The fortification. attack. and defense of places required constant PAG E 6 THE Q1JARTO Fort Brewerton was one ofa string of small posts built in 1759 to guard comm unications for British forces operating on Lake Ontario. It stood at the western end of Oneida Lake and was mapped by Ensign Charles Rivez of the Royal American Regiment. activity on the part of military engi­ neers. These officers, versed in the techniques of fortifi cation and siege­ craft. were essentia l to the success of armies , and there were never enough of them. New France had severa l colonial engineer s at the outbreak of hostilities . They had directed the construction of colonial fortifications for decades, and one even designed the new fort at Ticonderoga in 1755. Their experience with siege warfare was limited, howev­ er, and engineers from France held their abilities in contempt. Regula r engineers were sent to Ameri ca with the first French contingent in 1755 , but all were lost when the British navy cap­ tured their transport . Experienced infantry officers were pressed into service, notably Captain Pierre Pouchot, who rebuilt Niagara and undertook numerous other projects before the lost engin eers were replaced in 1756 and 1757, Regular engineers also came to America with Briti sh troops after 1755. Men such as James and John Montresor, William Eyre, Harry Gordon, and Thomas Sowers performed tasks ranging from fortification design to map-making and siegecraft. The British also drew heavily on another source of talent-non-British officers who had served in the armies of vari­ ous European powers. When the Royal American Regiment was raised in 1756, many of its officers were men of engineering experience, and many of them-including Franci s Pfister, George Demler, Bernard Ratzer, and Charles Rivez- spent most of the war on detached service as engineers. The creati ve output of these officers was enormou s, not only in term s of fortif ication s and buildings constructed but also of topographical maps, plans, and views produc ed to document their efforts and illuminate superior officers. Manus cript exam­ ples of forti fication plans and battle maps in the Clements Library collec­ tions include pieces that were associat­ ed with the papers of generals such as Jeffery Amherst and Thomas Gage or have been acquired individuall y to enhance the map collection. Many officers were competent topographical artists who sometimes saw their sketches, waterco lors, and maps pub­ lished in Europe, where they brought a visual impression of America and the war to the eyes of an interested public . The conventions and technique s of warfare against fortifie d places introduced European formalities that few today would associate with fightin g in the wilderness of North America . Brigadier John Prideaux 's army included 900 Iroquoi s warrio rs when it set out from Oswego to besiege Niagara in July 1759. His force penetrated deep into the wilderness of Lake Ontario . But , when confronted with the French defenses , Prideaux adopted the same method s that would have been utilized to besiege a fortress in the Netherland s. The French commandant was politely summoned to surrender his post-and just as politely refused. Siege lines and batteries were established, and artillery roared from each side as the fortress was graduall y pounded to rubble . British regulars defeated a relief attempt , with the belated support of the Iroquois. The French were again politely invited to surrender, and this time the offer was accepted after a night of negoti ation . Formal articles of capitulation were drawn up, honors of war were granted the defeated garri­ son, and the French marched from their fortre ss with drum s beating and colors flying. A far cry from the usual image of the war fought by Natty Bumpo or real-life frontier partisans such as Robert Rogers and his Canadi an and Native Ameri can adversaries. The campaigns of the French and Indian War were set in an environment very different from that of eighteenth­ century Europe. But the leaders of both sides understood well the maxim of the seventeenth-century French engineer Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban that "only siegecraft offers the means of conquering and holding territory ." Vauban would have agreed that, in the vast spaces of North America , a conqueror could not "become master of an entire area if he does not take the fortre sses." - Brian Leigh Dunnigan Curator of Maps and Head of Research & Publications THE QlJARTO PAGE 7 Nathaniel Marchant draped the figure of Wo(fe in "correct " neoclassical fashion in his 1790s composition. This stipple engraving is hy Italian engraver Luigi Schiavonetti. versions and at least one prelim inary drawing that came from West' s studio . Crucible of War author Fred Anderson poin ts out that the varied ranks and nation alities of the group around Wolfe make up an allegory of a unified and diverse Briti sh Empire. For George III, it must have been pleasin g to contemplate as he faced an increasingly rebell ious America in the 17705. Apart from this unity is the figure of the Indian. In the allegorical images that appear on title pages, map cartouches, and political prints, America is most often represented as a Native American. In "The Death of General Wolfe" the warrior observes with a cool detachment, measuring Wolfe' s martyr­ dom and ponderi ng the significance of the event and its ramifications for the balance of power in his native land. As with most significant contribu ­ tions to the history of art, "The Death of General Wolfe" fits into a sequence or cycle of related works. The compo­ sition closely follows that of several medieval and early Renai ssance depic­ tions of the lamentation over the dead Chris t. Like these lamentations , the hands in "The Death of General Wolfe" describe actions and express emo­ tions-announcing victory, directin g attention, tending wounds, supporting the fain t, grieving loss, wringing in frustration , and draining strength. Tn contrast, the visible hand of the Indian supports his chin in a pose that is sym­ bolic of static contemplation rather than emotion or action . Through numerous engraved print versions, "The Death of General Wolfe" became a highly recognizable image, accepted as the defining heroic apotheos is in Briti sh culture. Its influ­ ence can be traced from epic battle scenes to decorative arts. It even was a vehicle for political satire in The Death or the Great Wolf, by James Gillra y, with Prime Mini ster William Pitt, in place of Wolfe, dying a political death at the passing of his Treason and Sedition Acts of 1795. The popularity of "The Death of General Wolfe" earned West a con­ tinuing string of royal commissions, although his sugges tion for a compan­ ion piece, "The Discovery of the Remains of Braddock 's Army," was never accepted. Continuing interest in "The Death of Gener al Wolfe" is partl y attributable to the legend of its revolu­ tionary style, but this has been over­ emphasized to the point of distracting from its other values. West successfully tapped strong popular feelings for the subject with a timeless painting that transcends anyone style, with root s in the religious and history paintings tha t preceded the Neoclassical. Seen as a part of this continuum, it is far less rev­ oluti onary, but no less a great paintin g. - Clayton Le...vis Curator of G raphic Materials A miniature "Death oJ Wolfe " has long graced the Clements Library tea room on a nineteen th­ centuf}' painted till tray. PAG E 10 T HE Q1JARTO MAP WARS The first to test the temperature was the French geographer Didier Robert de Vaugondy. His map of Canada of 1753, Carte des pays COJ1flllS SOI /S le nom de CANADA..., outraged the British commissioners. It showed the French view of Acadia as a thin strip along the Atlantic coast. Because the map was dedicated to the French minister of War. Marc-Pierre de Voyer, comte d' Argenson . the British commis­ sioners understood it to have been approved by the French Court and thus an insult to the work of the commission. William Mildmay, one of the two British commissioners. showed the map to his patron in London, Lord Holderness. The reaction is found in Mildmay's journal, now in the Clements Library: "His Lordship observed that since the French court thought fit to treat this negotiation in so slight a man­ ner it was high time for us to insist that lished their full negotiations. with explanatory maps accompanying the works and demonstrating the confusing array of possibilities and historical precedents using a bewildering variety of hachures, dotted lines, dots. and crosses to demonstrate the historical precedents for different boundaries. The impasse of these negotiations meant that commercial mapmakers in London and Paris could leap into the boundary waters with impunity. cartographic fruit, for no maps had accompanied the original charters and concessions; thus, no map could pro­ vide the juridical proof for defining Acadia. Prioted maps published by French and English cartographers were so contradictory and varied in scale, size. and purpose as to produce no meaningful conclusions. In frustration. the commissioners admitted that "maps are from the Nature of them a very slight evidence, Geographers often lay them down upon incorrect Surveys, copying the Mistakes of one another: and if the Surveys be correc t, the Maps taken from them, tho' they may shew the true position of a Country, the Situation of Islands and Towns, and the Course of Rivers, yet can never deter­ mine the Limits of a Territory. which depend entirely upon authentic Proof." Having reached no solution. the commissioners from both sides pub- ~ ",'~ .:~ Ji ' '< , • j"V") l"? ',\(~ -, ~, L-/: ;" <:» e-, " ,;~ )O/) ~<~ .~ C' ) I~ . . ... . '"""''' 1C"'.'\ <o:~ /' .1..:'""\ -, \ Acadia, as shown on the / 755 state of Robert de Vaugo/ldy S map of Canada, is confi lled to the Atlantic rim of the peninsula of Nom Scotia. different Nova Scotia-the entire penin­ sula and all the mainland extending north to the S1. Lawrence River. The task before the boundary commission was to determine what exactly consti­ tuted Acadia. The commissioners agreed "to study all the concessions, charters, land grants. and treaties" in North America from the first European contact with the area until the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) . This grindingly slow process bore little rouble brews across the Appalachians." In high school history books ctt >..:::} '" the French and Indian War is often presented as a series of conflicts beyond the western slopes of North America' s great mountains and in the Ohio River Valley. Here a creeping rash of newly-built French forts set the stage for the colorful debut (and quick exit) of the youthful George Washington. The French encroachments into territo­ ries claimed by British colonists consti­ tute standard fare for the diet of causes of the conflict. Maps of North America printed in the colonial power centers of Paris and London during the early 1750s various­ ly reflected these trans-Appalachian claims. Some British maps ignored the leprous spread of French forts. while others used color. bold lettering, and inflammatory rhetoric to draw attention to the growing cancer. On the other side of the Channel, less bois­ terous French maps quietly penned in the British colonies along the Atlantic seaboard, using dotted lines and soft outline color along the Appalachian ridge to fence them off from the Ohio River Valley. the Mississippi, and the Great Lakes. Such cartographic legerdemain did not pass unnoticed, particularly in high diplomatic circles. In the early 1750s, French and English diplomats were gathering in elegant Paris salons to negotiate the details of North American boundaries set by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. That agreement had been signed in 1748 to end the War of the Austrian Succession, during which conflict both sides had seized control of colonial ter­ ritories claimed by the other. The treaty returned European boundaries and colo­ nial possessions in North America to the status quo ollie bellum. The sorest spot was not. as one might imagine, the Ohio Valley but rather the northeast corner of the Atlantic coastline: Acadia or Nova Scotia. The treaty required that the French return this area to the British. The French were happy to give up what they thought of as Acadia-a narrow strip of land along the coast of the peninsula from Cape Canso to Cape Sable. The British expected to regain a THE OlJARTO PAGE 11 The controversial French posts in the upper Ohio Valley stand out from the colorful British claims in this detail of the Society ofAnti-Gallicans map. The Society ofAnti-Galiicans made no bones about Britain 's territorial ambitions in North Ameriea. French Canada is isolated within an area smaller than the modern province of Quebec. rapher's nationali sm. Perhaps the most polem ical and certainly the most color­ fully exubera nt map of all appeared in London in 1755: A New and Accurate Map vi the English Empire ofNortti America: Rep resenting their Rightful Claim as confirm'd by Charters, and the formal Surrender oftheir Indian Friends; Likewise the Encroachments of the French, with the several Forts they have unjustly erected therein. It was pub­ lished by the Society of Anti-Gallicans. The Anti-Gallican Society was a mercantile pressure group, found ed in 1745 to "extend the commerce of England and oppose the insidious Arts of the French Nation." It responded to a fear of French encroachments, not in North America but in England herself . The infiltration of French artists, skilled laborers, and even theatrical performers was seen as a weakening of control of British goods and manufactures. "Milliners, mantua-makers, tutoresses for boarding-schools, disguis'd jesuits, quacks , valets de chambrc" as well as French painters, engravers, dancers, and actors were all seen as part of a danger­ ous French infiltration into daily life. The foreign worker was a threat to British jobs and an ally to the French econom y. Worse yet, by buying French goods, a British consumer might be aid­ ing the Pretender-the-rnernory of the 1745 Uprising and the vain attempt of Bonnie Prince Charlie to reinsert him­ self into British life was not soon for­ gotten. In addition to protecting British high-level papers had left the Minist ry of War for use in preparation of the map_ In fact, Vaugondy's sources were the same published works avail­ able to many cartographers: the maps of Jacques-Nicolas Bellin and the papers in the Depot de la Marine , an institution that was often open to commercial map­ makers for study and reference. Vaugondy's effort was ju st one in a series of printed maps that fought the boundary battles of Acadia and the Ohio well before the first shots were fired in 1754. Map s publi shed in London and Paris in the early 1750s pushed and shaped the bound s of New France and New England according to each cartog- the aff air between us should be brought to an accomm odation at once in plain and express terms, or else to attend to some more serious consequences." Vaugondy's map not only reduced Acadia to a narrow strip along the coast; he neglected even to name British Nova Scotia. The French claims on this map are clear. incorporating into Canada the banks of the St. Lawrence from the Atlantic to the Great Lakes and the territory extending along the Ohio . Although the Ohio River was not the concern of the boundary commission, it was very much on the mind of one of the French members. Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissioniere. At precisely the moment of publication, this former governor of Canada had become the head of the Depot de la Marine, the department of maps and plans of the French navy and the bran ch of govern­ ment that was also responsible for the administration of the colonies. While La Galis sonicrc had been in Canada, as a true man of the Enli ghtenment, he had dispatched sev­ eral survey expeditions to determin e longitude. One of these surveys was along the Ohio, done by a Jesuit priest, Joseph-Pierre de Bonnecamps . The second edition of Vaugondy 's map, pub­ lished in 1755, shows the course of the Ohio based on Bormecamp's work as it was drawn on manuscript maps found in the Depot de la Marine. The furor surrounding Vaugondy's map caused the cartographer to publi sh a spec ial note in the periodical Mercure de France, assuring his public that no PAGE 12 THE QlJARTO In London, the Earl of Halifax informed Chabert that Indian grant s to individuals were invalid . particularly those west of the proc lamation line of 1763 . Disappointed in recouping his fortunes in this way, Chabert set out by way of New York for Montreal and what remained of his property. At the . same time, Hali fax notified Gen eral Thoma s Gage of the impending arriva l of the fanner Canadian officer, warni ng him to keep the "Str ictest Eye" on his conduct and to prevent Chabert from "going amongst the Indians" until he had pro ven that he would not incite them against the Brit ish. Chabert was in Montreal by the summer of 1765. where he was bitterly disappointed to find himself barred from the Indian trade. He then began a long-distance effort to obtain compen­ sation for his losses from the French gove rnment, but in this he was also unsuccessful. Finally, in 1767, having taken the oath of allegiance to Brit ain, be won the sympathy and support of Quebec governor Guy Ca rleton. who interceded with both Gage and Sir William Joh nson. They relented and permitted Chabert to go (Q Detroit, but Gage warned the commandant there to " keep a Watchfull Eye over him ." Chaben arri ved at Detroit in September PRICE VISITING RESEARCH FELLOWS HIPS We are very pleased to annou nce the award of eight Jacob M. Price Visit ing Researc h Fellowships for tbe 2004 ca l­ endar year. The se grants provide sup­ port for graduate students and junior faculty who se research will benefi t from the collections of the Clements Library. Thi s yea r 's group of applicants was of particu larly high quality and presented diffic ult choices for our reviewers. Coincidentally, five of the eight topics have some relevance to the period of the French and Indian War, the theme of this issue of the Quarto. Th e succe ssful applicants are all expected to visit the Clements before the end of December. Michelle Hamilton, University of Western Ontario, for her dissertation , and took up residence about three­ quarters of a mile from the fort . He was watched carefully, espec ially after his house became "'a great Resort of Indians'tand Captain George Turnbull reported that "Indians of every Nation Love him." Thereafter, Chabert's pres­ ence was tolerated, and he eve n report ­ ed occas ionally to Sir Willi am John son on the mood of the Indians, but the British never entirely trusted him . In spite of his popularity, Chabert was choking in debt incurred when he purchased goods in England in 1765 and then found that he could not trade with the Indians. One of his creditors, John Lees, traveled to Detroit in ]768 but got only "the fairest promi ses" and. eventually, a lot in the town as part ial repayme nt. Chabert even tried to obtain fina ncial support for his family from General Gage, pleadi ng that "it would be shameful at my age to see me drag­ ging out my life along the lakeside , to be the laughing stock of the entire rab­ ble." There was appare ntly some improve ment in his financial condition before Chabert died at Detro it in 177 1 and was buried bene ath his pew in Ste. Anne 's Church. His remains were sub­ sequently moved twice , and today they are believed to lie somewhere in Mount Olivet Cemetery. ANNOUN CEMENTS "In the King's Service: Amerindians. French Settlers, Traders, and the British Mil itary Logistical System in the Old Northwes t, 1760-1776." Rob Harper, Univer sity of Wisconsin­ Madison. for his dissertation , " Revolution and Conquest: Politics. Violence . and Social Change in the Ohio Valley. 1774- 1803." Karen Marrero, Yale University, for her dissertation. "Founding Families: Power and Authori ty of Mixed Indigenous Lineages in Eighteenth-Cent ury Detroit." Robert Morrissey, Yale University, for his dissertati on, "B ottomlands & Borderlands: Empire and Identity in the Eighteenth-Century Illinois Country." Robert E. Paulett . Co llege of William and Mary, for his dissertation, "A ugusta Chabert's famil y was , by that time, well established in Detroit, where one of his sons, Franc ois (1757- 1813), was a British partisan durin g the American Revolu tion. He kept his father's Memoir du Canada, and it was carefu lly prese rved by six succeeding genera tions in Detroit and Monroe. Handwritten notati ons scattered thro ughout the book record a number of family birt hs, deaths, and mar riages. Proudly inscribed in French above the title is: "This book pertains to the fami­ ly of Mr. Chabe rt." Early in the twen ti­ eth century, Helen L. Bronson. Daniel' s great- great granddaughter, translated his memoire for Buffalo historian Frank Severance, who used it in An Old Frontier of France (1917) and featured the exploits of Louis-Thomas, Philippe, and Daniel Chabert de Joncaire. Daniel's Memoir du Canada was presented to the Clement s Librar y in September 2000 and now reposes where, 250 year s later, readers can ponder Cbabert's query: "w hich has been the basis of my undertaki ngs, self-interest or hono r; zeal for the serv­ ice . or the desire [Q enrich myself]"]" - Brian Leigh Dunnigan Curator of Maps and Head of Research & Publications Seen : Contests of Power and Meaning in Colonial Georgia's Upcou ntry Landscapes." Dr. David L. Preston. faculty of The Citadel. for his book, The TexflIre of Contact: European and Indian Settler Communities 011 the lroquoian Borderlands. / 720-/780. Margaret Sumner. Rutgers University, for her dissertation , "Reason. Revelation & Romance: The Social and Intellectual Con struct ion of Early American College Communitie s, 1782- 1860." Dr. Kirk Davis Swinehart. faculty of Wesleyan University, for his book. Molly 's War: The Other American Revolution. THE Q\)ARTO PAGE 15 CALEN DAR OF EVE NTS l\Iay 8 - June 4, 2004: Exhibit, George Washington: Gelling to Know the Man Behind the Image. Weekdays. 1:00­ 4:45 p.m. l\Iay 8, 2004 : Clements Library Associates Annual Meeting. 10:30 a.m. in the Main Room. The meeting is open to all CLA membe rs. ./un e 7 - Oc tobe r 1, 2004: Exhibit , The Iceman Cometh ... and Gaeth: An Exhibition Exploring the American Ice Indus try, From Early New Englund Pond Ice Harvesting to Mechanical Ref rigeration. Weekdays, 1:00 - 4:45 p.m. Oclober 1,2004 - ./anuary 15, 2005: Applications accepted for 2005 Price Visiting Research Fellowships. Awards will be announced by March 15, 2005. October 5, 2004: Clements Library Associates Board of Directors meeting. This apocryphal port rail of noted American ranger Robert Rogers ,vas published ill the Hibernian Magazine ofSeptember 1776. It borrows poses and derails from "The Death of General Wolfe. " PAGE 16 THE Q1JARTO